Is the Conor McGregor comeback dream officially dead? Being a McGregor fan is not the easiest task for a UFC viewer in 2025. The biggest star in the history of the sport looks like a shadow of his former self nowadays as he’s not consistent inside the Octagon and parties regularly, which he once thought was poison to the soul. ‘Mystic Mac’ generally looks happy living his life as a multi-millionaire and BKFC part-owner, but keeps teasing a return to the UFC. At this point, it seems like even his most hardcore fans aren’t expecting him to ever come back.

McGregor recently posted some training sessions on Instagram while tagging and asking Dana White, the UFC, and the TKO Group to facilitate his return. Such teasers are usually received positively by fans, but ever since the UFC 303 debacle with Michael Chandler, it is safe to say that the community has had enough.

The Irishman tagged the big guns and used enticing captions such as: “Let’s get this show started.” When Jaxxonpodcast reuploaded these clips, the fan reactions made it clear that the biggest draw in MMA is no longer a necessity for the promotion because most importantly, the fans have moved on.

The most liked comment on the post says, “He ain’t never coming back and no one is excited anymore.” Even Irish people who once supported ‘The Notorious’ for  representing their nation are now realizing that he’s not the same elite MMA prodigy anymore. Here’s a reaction conveying this sentiment, “I’m from Dublin but I agree. When Conor was coming up I was a massive fan and was proud to have an Irish fighter do so well but at this stage he might not be able to handle the top guys.”

Other fans couldn’t help but point out that McGregor is too invested in parties and outings to train like a dedicated mixed martial artist and fight in the UFC. A user said,“[Conor]took a line off of some girls back while texting that lol. It’s just a fever dream atp.” Another line of argumentation is that he must’ve lost his physical advantages as a UFC fighter by being out of action for so long: “He probably can’t even move like that anymore in the gym. His body is so different now. There’s endless evidence of this. I mean evidence for fighters changing over time, especially when they take years off and change their bodies.” This could not have been more evident in the clip he posted, where he seemed slow and not in his signature flow while working the pad.

The homogenous pattern in all the comments is baffling, to say the least. In 2017, McGregor had half the world convinced that he’s skilled enough to outdo Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a boxing match. Eight years later, even a slight mention of his return leads to reactions like: “Dude has an a** whooping waiting for him when he returns, doesn’t matter who against he isn’t elite anymore”, “Just hype, I’ve scared him out of the octagon for 4 years now,” and “I don’t think anyone cares or believes at this point.”

Amidst a plethora of such reations, only a bunch of comments seemed excited for McGregor’s return. It is obvious that he can still probably sell more PPVs than any other UFC fighter but he’s no longer considered a feared striker and an MMA genius.

Michael Chandler vs. Conor McGregor now makes more sense than ever

It’s a shame that Chandler, in the middle of an extremely exciting UFC run, decided to stay out for two years in hopes of securing a huge payday by fighting McGregor. They even recorded a season of TUF together but it led to nothing, and the talks about their fight being rescheduled after UFC 303 are nowhere to be seen.

The fact that Chandler has fought two times already since finally moving on from McGregor makes the entire thing worse. However, their two-year feud is a permanent storyline that the UFC can sell whenever it wants. With straight dominant losses to top contenders like Charles Oliveira and then Paddy Pimblett, it also makes more sense for Chandler to make the most of his stardom to get huge fights instead of taking on tough contenders with newfound title aspirations.

As for the former UFC double champ, though, it’s impossible to guess whether he really plans to ever fight again. However, if he does, Chandler is still arguably the best option as it can satisfy the fans while also not stalling the division’s title picture in any manner.